Bengaluru, Apr 23: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's contesting from Badami due to public
pressure and should not read as a case of “muscle flexing” vis-a-vis Congress
high Command but rather reflects his greater popularity, AICC Spokesperson
Priyanka Chaturvedi said.
“There was immense demand for Siddaramaiah to
contest from Badami as that will give the party an edge in Northern Karnataka,”
Ms Chaturvedi told.
She rejected suggestion that Mr Siddaramaiah virtually forced the party high command to issue him ticket for Badami in Bagalkot district as well besides fighting from Chamundeshwari in his home district.
She said the Congress high command has always given free hand to state leaders and Mr Siddaramaiah’s desire to contest from Badami also was 'never a dispute'.
“The party leadership and the central election committee have examined pros and cons before taking a decision to field Siddaramaiah to contest from two constituencies in two regions,” she said.
Ms Chaturvedi said there was a time when BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa used to throw a challenge and used to say that he can contest from anywhere in the State. “Yeddyurappa’s was basically a lip service and rhetoric, but our Chief Minister has proved his pan-Karnataka image and will now fight in both the regions. Not many Karnataka politicians enjoy this kind of popularity. It is mainly for the body of work done by him,” she added.
To a question on whether AICC President Rahul Gandhi was trying to follow the ‘Punjab Model’ where too Chief Ministerial face Capt Amarinder Singh was given a freehand for the 2017 assembly polls, Ms Chaturvedi said, “I will rather say we are only following a model that has always given us victory”.
On the emerging electoral scenario in Karnataka, she said, “The BJP is gifting one issue or the other to Congress party on a regular basis. After Amit Shah’s moment of truth when he said Yeddyurappa ministry was most corrupt, they have legitimised corruption by embracing mining scam tainted Janardhan Reddy”.
“The apostles are corruption – Yeddy-Reddy - are with them now,” she remarked and dismissed suggestion that may be BJP’s decision to take back the former BJP Minister into the party fold for electoral benefits.
“Frankly I have my doubts about this. Because the only image the Reddy brothers give us is about sleaze. And people of Karnataka have suffered due to their corruption. So how come to presume that people will vote for them,” she argued.
The Congress spokesperson maintained that the decision to take Mining baron Janardhan Reddy to the party and give importance to other Reddy brothers only reflects “the dearth of leadership” in the BJP.
“I feel, they seemed to have lost the plot in Karnataka and now on daily basis, they are trying to project one local face or the other, no doubt how discredited such faces are from Yeddyurappa to Janardhan Reddy,” Ms Chaturvedi said.
In fact, she also went on to say that when it comes to corruption from Rafale deal to banking scams, the best thing BJP leadership has been able to do is the denial game which does not help their case in any manner.
To a question on Congress u-turn made regarding fielding fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choski’s lawyer H S Chandramouli from Madikeri, she said, “It will be always wrong to find fault with a lawyer representing his client. The malafide intention cannot be linked like that. Just because he was the counsel, the crime cannot be established. Arun Jaitley’s daughter and son in-law represented Nirav Modi. In the past too, Sushma Swaraj’s lawyer represented Lalit Modi”. UNI
She rejected suggestion that Mr Siddaramaiah virtually forced the party high command to issue him ticket for Badami in Bagalkot district as well besides fighting from Chamundeshwari in his home district.
She said the Congress high command has always given free hand to state leaders and Mr Siddaramaiah’s desire to contest from Badami also was 'never a dispute'.
“The party leadership and the central election committee have examined pros and cons before taking a decision to field Siddaramaiah to contest from two constituencies in two regions,” she said.
Ms Chaturvedi said there was a time when BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa used to throw a challenge and used to say that he can contest from anywhere in the State. “Yeddyurappa’s was basically a lip service and rhetoric, but our Chief Minister has proved his pan-Karnataka image and will now fight in both the regions. Not many Karnataka politicians enjoy this kind of popularity. It is mainly for the body of work done by him,” she added.
To a question on whether AICC President Rahul Gandhi was trying to follow the ‘Punjab Model’ where too Chief Ministerial face Capt Amarinder Singh was given a freehand for the 2017 assembly polls, Ms Chaturvedi said, “I will rather say we are only following a model that has always given us victory”.
On the emerging electoral scenario in Karnataka, she said, “The BJP is gifting one issue or the other to Congress party on a regular basis. After Amit Shah’s moment of truth when he said Yeddyurappa ministry was most corrupt, they have legitimised corruption by embracing mining scam tainted Janardhan Reddy”.
“The apostles are corruption – Yeddy-Reddy - are with them now,” she remarked and dismissed suggestion that may be BJP’s decision to take back the former BJP Minister into the party fold for electoral benefits.
“Frankly I have my doubts about this. Because the only image the Reddy brothers give us is about sleaze. And people of Karnataka have suffered due to their corruption. So how come to presume that people will vote for them,” she argued.
The Congress spokesperson maintained that the decision to take Mining baron Janardhan Reddy to the party and give importance to other Reddy brothers only reflects “the dearth of leadership” in the BJP.
“I feel, they seemed to have lost the plot in Karnataka and now on daily basis, they are trying to project one local face or the other, no doubt how discredited such faces are from Yeddyurappa to Janardhan Reddy,” Ms Chaturvedi said.
In fact, she also went on to say that when it comes to corruption from Rafale deal to banking scams, the best thing BJP leadership has been able to do is the denial game which does not help their case in any manner.
To a question on Congress u-turn made regarding fielding fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choski’s lawyer H S Chandramouli from Madikeri, she said, “It will be always wrong to find fault with a lawyer representing his client. The malafide intention cannot be linked like that. Just because he was the counsel, the crime cannot be established. Arun Jaitley’s daughter and son in-law represented Nirav Modi. In the past too, Sushma Swaraj’s lawyer represented Lalit Modi”. UNI
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